Art

What a busy month! I’ve been working on a variety of design projects for marketing clients, doing fun things with my kids, reading a ton of books, researching for ilovehorses.net, and continuing to develop a new book project. You’ll see new articles here soon.

I wasn’t able to post on ilovehorses.net as often in January because I have some exciting publishing opportunities I’m working on. I’m still active on Twitter and Facebook almost every business day, sharing horse-related news and photos from around the world. Here are a few of my favorite stories from the last few weeks.

Cavalia
Similar to Cirque du Soleil, Cavalia: A Magical Encounter Between Human and Horse is an artistic celebration of horses. It features 45 horses from 10 different breeds as they do amazing feats and interact with the human performers. Currently in Seattle until February 19, the show is moving to St. Louis beginning March 14.

If you haven’t seenWar Horse and you don’t like spoilers, you may want to read something else on ilovehorses.net. I’ve tried not to reveal too much about the climactic parts of the movie (of which there are many) while still providing some teasers.(more…)

For many people, including myself, Currier & Ives prints are synonymous with Christmastime. Whenever I see a Currier & Ives image of a horse pulling a sleigh in the snow, automatically I hear the song Sleigh Ride in my head:

There’s a happy feeling
Nothing in the world can buy
When they pass around the coffee and the pumpkin pie
It’ll nearly be like a picture print by Currier and Ives
These wonderful things are the things
We remember all through our lives!(more…)

The Anichkov Bridge has spanned the Fontanka River in St. Petersburg, Russia, for nearly 300 years. Named after Mikhail Anichkov, the designer of the original bridge, there have been four versions of the bridge built over the centuries.

The newest bridge was built in 1906, but its most famous features, the horse tamer statues, were created in the mid-1800s upon the order of Tsar Nicholas I. The sculptor, Peter Clodt von Jürgensburg (known as Pyotr Karlovich Klodt in Russia), was commissioned in 1842 to create lifelike sculptures of men taming wild horses to symbolize mankind’s struggle against the elements. Two were given as gifts to the King of Naples who had them installed at the gates of the Royal Palace, and two were given to the King of Prussia, where they adorned the Royal Palace at Berlin. (The Naples statues are still standing at the Royal Palace; the German statues can now be seen at Heinrich von Kleist Park in Berlin.) In 1849-50, four additional statues were created and placed on the four corners of the Anichkov Bridge.(more…)